AALL Spectrum Blog

The AALL Spectrum® Blog is published by the American Association of Law Libraries. Submissions from AALL members and other members of the legal community are highly encouraged. Opinions and editorial views expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the official position of AALL. AALL does not assume any responsibility for statements advanced by contributors. The previous Spectrum Blog was located at aallspectrum.wordpress.com.

Think back to that class in library science school that required a poster as a final project. You may have thought it was a bit silly, or didn’t really know how to condense all of your information into the size allowed. Either way, most librarians have some type of poster story in their educational background. But how does a poster translate to the conference setting?

AALL introduced the poster session at the 2011 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, and again this year posters were displayed in the Exhibit Hall with the presentation session scheduled during the 2:45-3:45 p.m. break on Sunday afternoon. For 2012, there were 29 posters from academic, private and government librarians representing at least two different countries. So why spend time browsing the posters when vendors had new products to introduce and the wonderful city of Boston was right outside the door? How about these two for starters:

1. The topics of the posters ranged across the spectrum of library issues creating an opportunity to learn something new in a short time frame. Where else can you find a discussion of rare books on French Civil Law and the legislative history of health care law in the same room? Even if one poster didn't involve a topic of great interest to you, you may still learn something (and can always move at your own pace if the subject interest was just not there).

2. This was an excellent opportunity to discuss and network with colleagues working on a project you may be considering. As I mentioned earlier, the librarians presenting in the session represented a cross section of our profession. If you are working on a project, or looking for ideas, a poster presentation session can provide numerous possibilities in one location.

So what were some of the most interesting posters to this author? At the MacMillan Law Library, we are considering starting a library student counsel, and I found the poster entitled Starting a Student Library Advisory Board (by librarians from several different law schools) to be an excellent opportunity to get ideas for our own program. Additionally, the poster on Comparison of Research Speed and Accuracy Using Westlaw and WestlawNext by Melanie (Oberlin) Knapp and Rob Willey from George Mason, a project in part funded by an AALL-Wolters Kluwer Law Business Grant,provided quality insight into the search processes and search results of the two Thompson Reuters products.

I am a big fan of poster sessions, both as a presenter and viewer. The opportunity to talk to the poster presenter, along with other viewers, provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about your own projects. This was my third poster presentation, each at a different conference, and every time I have been given great advice about my own work and future ideas, and I have truly enjoyed meeting people in a manner not possible with a traditional conference presentation. In case you missed the poster presentation session at this year's conference, keep it in mind for next year in Seattle.

Presenters:Carol Watson, Director, University of Georgia Law Library Jason Tubinis, IT Librarian, University of Georgia Law Library Suzanne Graham, Catalog Librarian, University of Georgia Law Library Handout Available Here

“Why do you need money for books when everything is online?”

It is an unfortunate reality that more of us hear this question (or a version of this question) in the course of our work, so it was appropriate that the session, “Be Memorable: Library Advocacy through Compelling Storytelling” began with Carol Watson, defining library advocacy as engaging in dialogue about an issue that you care about. Watson explained how storytelling, a tradition shared by all cultures, is a legitimate and effective method in responding to the growing frequency of the above inquiry. She reminded the audience of the tale of George Washington and the cherry tree as an example of how stories stick to the listener on a more personal and persuasive level that moves them to action. Watson then introduced the audience to the concept of a “Sacred Pawnee Bundle”, a collection of precious objects representing a Pawnee family. The bundle is passed down through the family to represent stories to identify their tribe. Watson challenged the audience to consider what stories they might put in their library’s sacred bundle to represent the library.Almost everyone has heard elements of good storytelling but the presenters refreshed traditional ideas of good storytelling and used examples to help the audience develop their own personal stories. The presenters introduced the audience to “Six Stories”#, a compilation of different types of stories that a librarian should develop:

The “Who Am I?” Story

The “Why Am I Here?” Story

The “Vision” Story

The “Teaching” Story

The “Values in Action” Story

The “Overcoming Objections” Story

Jason Tubinis gave direction on how to develop one’s own stories to fit the “Six Stories” list, while Suzanne Graham encouraged the audience to keep these stories in their back pocket so they could be ready at a moment’s notice to advocate for the library. The session and presenters were excellent in conveying that sometimes even concrete facts and figures are unconvincing and that making an issue personal through storytelling can be more persuasive. I was drawn to this session because I have always found that I learn best through analogy and usually analogy through storytelling. As Carol said, stories have a way with sticking with us and hitting us on a personal level. The session emphasized recognizing and harnessing the power of storytelling to benefit the library. In looking ahead to next year’s Annual Conference (Rethinking Your Value) in Seattle, this session on library advocacy was well-timed. I highly recommend purchasing a recording of the program. The session provides excellent direction if you are developing new ways to outline your library’s issues in a simple but persuasive manner. I would also suggest referring to the handout (link provided above) for an excellent bibliography of suggested reading on the topic.

Presenters: Paul Frank, Library of Congress, George Prager, NYU Law Library, Lia Contursi, Columbia Law School Library, John Hostage, Harvard Law School Library, Melissa Beck, UCLA Law Library, and Pat Sayre-McCoy, University of Chicago Law Library

The presenters designed this all-day workshop to introduce law catalogers to Resource Description and Access (RDA) cataloging instructions and to specifically cover those specialized instances of cataloging legal materials. Knowing that RDA implementation arrives just around the corner and that I will soon be participating in an intense series of training sessions with my university’s library system, I wanted to gain a leg-up on knowing how to navigate the new standards and how to best find those instructions that pertain to legal materials. The staff at Library of Congress have already been training and practicing RDA and full implementation of the standard begins early next year. Thus, it is important that all catalogers begin their education in this new and exciting theoretical practice within our profession.

The morning began with check-in and breakfast at which time participants received a handbook of PowerPoint slides, useful “cheat sheets,” and learning exercises. Laptops were also set up to accommodate two participants sharing a computer to access the RDA Toolkit. Prior to attendance we completed a bit of homework, which included registering for a free 30-day trial of the RDA Toolkit and reading the Introduction through Chapter 3.5 of the standards. Many attendees experienced problems logging into the RDA Toolkit at the beginning of the workshop; however, technical support was called in and most were able to find alternative methods of reaching the instructions for following along with presentations.

The workshop kicked off with a skit by Paul Frank and George Prager portraying a typical reference encounter in the law library. This demonstration exemplified all four user tasks as defined by the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR): find, identify, select, and obtain. We also found within this demonstration an opportunity to discuss FRBR’s Group 1 entities of work, expression, manifestation, and item, Group 2 entities of person, corporate bodies, and families, and Group 3 entities of concepts, objects, events, and places. In all cataloging instances one finds attributes and relationships of and between these three groups of entities. FRBR, along with the user tasks defined by Functional Requirements for Authority and Data (FRAD), (find, identify, contextualize, and justify), serves as the foundation of RDA in which recorded attributes and relationships strive to reach the goal of meeting both sets of user tasks. This portion of the presentation proved a humorously effective introduction by defining the new cataloging lingo and theory. I found it a great recap of the concepts first introduced in graduate school and I imagine that audience members who previously had minimal interaction with the concepts now have a good enough grasp of them to begin thinking in terms of RDA theory.

Mr. Prager continued with his discussion, “Identifying and Relating Resources and Entities.” After the introduction to RDA foundational theory this presentation smoothly transitioned the audience into the RDA instructions and alternatives. The focus of this portion of the workshop centered on differentiating works, constructing authorized access points, identifying different expressions of the same work, and relationships between resources and entities. After lunch Mr. Prager again took the stage to discuss the RDA instructions governing the cataloging of new editions of monographs. We covered various instructions and were shown examples of how one might handle new editions and expressions of the same work.

An audience member raised an interesting question during Mr. Prager’s discussion concerning the extent to which authority records will be created for works under RDA standards. This question provoked a conversation about RDA instructions being based on a three-dimensional theory, but our records still being recorded in the flat, MARC format. This is one of the ongoing topics underlying the implementation of RDA and many believe that the practice will evolve and change as more catalogers begin working through the various new issues.

Next, Lia Contursi introduced us to the RDA Toolkit, the online version of RDA standards. We covered various ways of accessing this essential guide, including the toolkit itself, Cataloger’s Desktop, and OCLC Connexion 2.40. Ms. Contursi explained the benefits of having one’s own subscription to the toolkit, such as creating workflows, performing searches, filtering documents, and adding bookmarks. We also went through the various sections of the toolkit and what each one covers. Interesting discussions generated by this portion of the workshop included the frustration of forcing the new RDA content standard into the current MARC code standard and the need to practice RDA in order to best make sense of the new instructions. Ms. Contursi then took us through Toolkit navigation exercises in our handbooks. Although we were unable to get through all of them I am glad to have worksheets to take home and practice in the office.

The workshop delved into the heart of legal cataloging when John Hostage used his portion of the session to discuss using RDA instructions to record law, constitutions, treaties, and court reports. He also provided us with thoughtful examples and exercises steering our minds toward thinking in RDA terms. RDA standards provide a great amount of detail specific to the cataloging of legal materials and it was very helpful to be shown where we can find that information. This topic is essential to law catalogers and led to thought provoking discussion among audience members. One of the major points expressed by this presentation was that cataloger’s judgment will be an integral part of cataloging legal materials, but we are able to find guidance when time is taken to look up the instructions.

Melissa Beck discussed the cataloging of serials and integrating resources under the new RDA instructions. With limited time left in the day she shortened her presentation, but was still effective in pointing out the pertinent sections of RDA to be studied when dealing with these tricky materials. She also emphasized the importance of practicing the new cataloging standard in order to learn how to best create effective records. As with other portions of the workshop Ms. Beck’s materials will be made available which will serve well for any serials cataloger.

To wrap up the workshop Pat Sayre-McCoy presented the audience with beneficial resources for continued learning and training. The Library of Congress provides training as does RDA and the Name Authority Cooperative of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (NACO). She also emphasized the importance of practice and allowing one’s self to make some mistakes. Mr. Frank closed the workshop by asking, “What comes next?” As other presenters had mentioned, the point was again asserted that practice is imperative to best learn RDA and build confidence in implementing its practice.

The handouts and PowerPoints for this presentation proved very helpful and easy to follow. If you have an inclination to collect additional RDA training materials I recommend accessing and following along with these handouts, available at the TS-SIS site, and audio recordings as available. Mr. Frank and Mr. Prager’s opening presentation is very much worth the listening. Librarians from all departments will benefit from this clear breakdown of the new theories underlying RDA implementation and how they impact not only technical, but public services as well. Listeners may also find humor in the skit on a topic that to non-catalogers may seem a mundane subject. Although Ms. Contursi’s portion of the presentation used many online demonstrations she effectively vocalized her steps in accessing the Toolkit documents making this a reasonable portion for listening. Any cataloger who deals with legal materials will be well served by listening to audio recordings of Mr. Hostage’s presentation. In addition to the information and instructions provided by the presenters the discussions raised by audience members concerning everyday cataloging practice will help to get the wheels turning in the minds of those who tune in. All of the presenters emphasized that practice is key and that RDA is not yet a finalized product. RDA is a fluid set of standards and catalogers have the opportunity to keep the discussions going on issues and best practices allowing for continued improvement. The workshop served well to demonstrate that this is an exciting time to be a cataloger in that we have the opportunity, through training and practice, to influence the new RDA standards. Let’s get cataloging!